Oakland & San Francisco-Bay Area (non-Earthquakes) pro soccer.

Fisher refunding money to STH........yeah will never happen.

 

Actually, when playoff tickets were part of the STH package, there were instances when refunds or credit rollover were given for Quakes' non-qualification for the playoffs.

 

Yeah, I was given a $300+ credit from my two 2024 season tickets.

 

Insert Chris Farley "Well la di freakin da" gif here...

 

are you sure? We got no such credit for missing the playoffs.

 

It would seem that if the season ticket included playoffs and your team didn't make the playoffs, you should get that money back.
But to guarantee a % of your season ticket back when the team did not make the playoffs at all is smart move.
Tells the fans we didn't do well and this is our apology. Would seem to make selling next years season tickets a little easier when it comes with that type of guarantee.

 

I don't recall them telling me what it was for, just that I had one.

 

Hmm, i would ask my rep about this, but I think he might not want to talk to me.

 

Why would that be?

 

There were no unused games in the season ticket package that needed to be refunded. The three extra games, US Open Cup and both Leagues Cup group stage, all happened, and the Leagues Cup knockout round was an additional expense.

 

This year. But in past seasons there were refunds / credits.

 

Good news: Santa Barbara coming to USL
Bad news: Memphis going away

BREAKING: Memphis 901 FC have transferred their USL Championship franchise rights to Santa Barbara, per sources.

Memphis will not play in 2025. Santa Barbara to join USL-C in 2026. League approved.

Transfer due to no viable stadium solution.https://t.co/XTDGFUSfdk

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) November 13, 2024

2025 USL Championship, as it stands. Have fun dividing that into East and West. pic.twitter.com/6qUDRR87yO

— John Morrissey (@USLTactics) November 13, 2024

 

WTF, Memphis?

This story prompted me to look up dog racing there, and turns out that's gone, too.



I always think about dog racing when I hear about Memphis. Back in the day, while in college working in the alumni office, there was a middle-aged cleaning lady who liked to talk in her Southern drawl about vacationing in Memphis for the dog races. It's been on my (lengthy) bucket list ever since. Might still go there and Mississippi Delta for the blues, but no dog racing -- or soccer.

 

This both not good and weird news.
Losing a large city franchise like Memphis is not good for the league.
Santa Barbara was to go USL-1, moved from a poor stadium (turf) to a good stadium (grass), but we have heard very little else about them. Now they want to jump to USL-C ? They now will need more than an average USL-1 attendance to at least an average USL-C to make this work. At least they have 4 other California rivals to keep some of the travel down- Oakland, Sacramento, Monterey Bay and Orange County and you could make the argument that Phoenix and Vegas not far either- 1+ hour or so by plane-- quite a bit more by bus.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

Memphis is a huge loss, especially for Birmingham who lose their rival AND may have to play in the western conference to balance the league... closer to home it remains a crime that Reno and Fresno aren't still in USL

 

Santa Barbara’s expansion to the USL is interesting.

They are going to be called Santa Barbara Sky FC and announced that they will play their games at Harder Stadium with a capacity of 17,000 which is where UCSB plays.

Their college soccer team , the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are very popular and I think average over 3,800 fans per game.

Their rivalry game against Cal Poly usually draws over 12k.

If they can channel some of those fans for the USL pro team , they could draw pretty well for that league.

 

Hey, just remembered I had sold some tickets awhile back and never gave them tax id info so they could send a check. I guess they just credited my account? Sorry for the confusion!

 

==========
Been here several times over the years, most recently for the Wrexham game.
Beautiful GRASS field rather than the stupid plastic field over at the Junior College they chose first.
Parking a litte goofy at times as on a major university campus and there will be conflicts at the end of the USL season. But the setting with the mountains in the background is really nice.
Goleta/Santa Barbara has a mid size airport with decent service to hubs in the west. The area is upscale and a little expensive, but if you are from somewhere else, worth a roadtrip. Perfect Mediterranean weather and nearby beaches.

And yes, the rival games against Cal Poly SLO are amazing with all the flying tortillas after they score.

 

What I just missed is the Santa Barbara USL- Champion season now pushed back to 2026 !!
I been a little worried about Santa Barbara as other than the stadium moved being announced, has not been much else going on. I was a little worried 2025 was coming and not much action. Not pushed to 2026.
I wonder if they are looking for more/deeper pockets owners?
If you are just picking up Memphis and dropping them into Santa Barbara, why can't you play in 2025?
I realize re-location of players, coaches, staff etc. can be an issue. Other thing people are going to find is Memphis is a fairly low cost place to live, Santa Barbara is a very expensive place to live and housing is an issue.
This is all going to be very interesting.

 

I'm assuming the Memphis players are already looking for or have already signed with other clubs.

I mean I doubt they will all take a year off.